UK seaside town with two sweeping sandy beaches where Pancake Day has a different name
Pancake Day is an iconic British tradition - but not every town celebrates in the same way.
Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day as it’s known colloquially, is a much-loved British tradition - but in one English town, it’s been renamed to 'Skipping Day'.
Shrove Tuesday is a feast day held in the build-up to Lent where people would get rid of the sweet treats in the house before Lent by using them to make pancakes.
According to Scarborough Maritime Heritage, In Anglo-Saxon times people were called to confession and were “shriven” (forgiven of their sins), hence the development of the word Shrove.
A bell would be rung to call people to confession; eventually this bell was called the Pancake Bell and was rung at twelve noon; supposedly to let the housewives know when to start cooking the pancakes.
Labourers and servants were often given a half day off for Lent and they would use this for playing games and skipping.
In Scarborough this half day was used for playing a medieval version of football on the beach, which led to the day becoming ‘Ball Day’ and then over time, Skipping Day.
BBC reports the first official record of Skipping Day was not until 1903, when it is believed local fishermen would give the children some of their old fishing ropes to play with on the beach.
Today, Skipping Day is a much-loved Scarborough tradition. Every year the Foreshore Road is closed and massive ropes are laid out for people to skip with, sometimes up to as many as eight people at a time.
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Of course, there are pancakes for people to enjoy which are cooked up by the local Sea Cadets.
If you want to, you can also compete in pancake races where teams of two in fancy dress run an obstacle course while flipping pancakes.
Judges score the teams on their costumes as well as their speed and the number of pancakes they manage to keep in their pans.
The winning duo will receive the Golden Frying Pan and also a six month leisure and gym pass to train up for next year.
